What to do when you’ve run out of bread and can’t get to the shops? Soda bread is an excellent quick bread which doesn’t require any special bread flour or yeast. Traditional Irish soda bread has only 4 ingredients: plain flour, bicarbonate of soda (the raising agent), salt and buttermilk. These days we don’t churn…… Continue reading soda bread
Category: bread
oat cakes
Quintessentially Scottish, these savoury oat cakes are equally good served with a cheese platter or with butter and jam. A coating of dark chocolate works too. Read more about the art of oat cakes here. Preheat your oven to 190ºC (375ºF). Mix 225g of instant oats, 60g of flour, ½ a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda, ½ a teaspoon of sugar and 1…… Continue reading oat cakes
multi-grain no-knead bread
This very grainy cob loaf doesn’t require much hands-on work, just some time. Mix 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 2 cups of wholemeal flour, 2 teaspoons of salt, 2 teaspoons of sugar, 2½ teaspoons of dry active yeast and 1 teaspoon of bread improver. To this add 1 cup of mixed seeds and grains. I added pepita seeds,…… Continue reading multi-grain no-knead bread
cheeseburger
A truly delicious cheeseburger made by Thomas. Thomas made the sweet potato burger buns following this recipe by Chef John of Food Wishes. For the burger itself he coarsely ground his own beef and simply seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Each burger was served with 2 thin patties which were cooked on a hotplate using this smashed burger technique…… Continue reading cheeseburger
banana sesame walnut loaf
This delicious variation on banana bread is wholemeal, full of walnuts and not too sweet. The recipe (published in Gourmet Traveller) is by Dan Lepard. Preheat your oven to 180ºC (350ºF) and line a loaf tin with baking paper. Mash 4 bananas with 200g (7 oz) of dark muscovado sugar or unrefined molasses sugar until smooth then stir in the juice…… Continue reading banana sesame walnut loaf
corn and sweet potato muffins
Try these as a savoury snack with cheese, in a lunchbox or as a side dish with chilli or spicy sticky pork ribs. Peel and steam a medium sweet potato and 2 corn on the cob (or an equivalent amount of frozen corn kernels). When cool, mash the sweet potato, cut the corn from the…… Continue reading corn and sweet potato muffins
super soft sandwich bread + cultured butter
Many years ago I attended classes run by Carol Bates in Simply No-Knead Breadmaking. I discovered that good quality untreated flour makes for less work. This recipe makes a deliciously soft white bread. For 2 loaves, mix together 8 cups of unbleached white bread flour, ⅓ of a cup of ground or instant oats (1 sachet), 6 teaspoons of…… Continue reading super soft sandwich bread + cultured butter
flourless almond bread 2
My first flourless almond bread, although delicious with butter, was unsuited to more savoury toppings. With the addition of flaxseed meal and olive oil this new version is more savoury. Enjoy it with bacon and eggs, cheese, tomatoes, mushrooms, avocado or just about anything. It toasts well and can be used for sandwiches. Preheat your oven to 180ºC…… Continue reading flourless almond bread 2
banana hazelnut loaf
Another delicious variation on a classic, this loaf is not too sweet and can be toasted for a great breakfast. Whip 125g (4½ oz) of butter and 100g (3½ oz) of honey then add 3 large or 4 small eggs one at a time. Add 4 ripe mashed bananas, 100g (3½ oz) of hazelnut meal and…… Continue reading banana hazelnut loaf
sourdough
My very own home-grown sourdough is finally working! I don’t make bread every day so I’ve been cultivating my sourdough starter for quite a while. There are a myriad of recipes out there for sourdough starter but I decided to make it the old-fashioned way so I used only flour (unbleached organic) and water (spring). First you…… Continue reading sourdough
michelle picker cooks 